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Objectives

Students are often asked comprehension questions based on text that they have read. However, it is important for students to consider pictures used in the text as well. Pictures can help increase students' understanding of the text, topic, or story. In this lesson, students are asked four different types of questions about historical photographs. The questions range in difficulty from those with answers that require inferences. Students learn to categorize questions by the four question types and use pictures to help them better understand history.

Students will...• Categorize questions according to the four picture–question–answer relationships: Right There, Artist and You, On My Own, and Putting It Together • Answer basic and inferential comprehension questions using the pictures in a text and or historic photographs• Explain their reasoning when answering comprehension questions

Standards

READINGRL.1.1 Ask and answer such questions about key details in a text. RI.1.5 Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently. RI.1.7 Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.

IMAGINATIVE WRITING 1.W-I.1. Write or dictate stories that have a beginning, middle, and end, and arrange ideas in a logical way.

English Language Conventions: 1.EL.2.Write in complete sentences.

Resources

Cole, Henry. (2012). Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad. New York, New York: ScholasticSet during the Civil War, Unspoken follows a young girl as she discovers the secrets of her family's farm. Though we never see who is hiding in the hen house, the illustrations carry the protagonist's urgency to protect and care for whomever is using this stop on the underground railroad. Henry Cole's graphite illustrations capture details and carry powerful emotions. Though wordless, Henry has included an author's note at the end that tells his story and encourages readers to "write the words and make this story your own-- filling in all that has been unspoken." A wordless masterpiece on the underground railroad, Unspoken will appeal to those who pour over Brian Selznick's work.

Levine, Ellen. (2007). Henry's Freedom Box:A True Story from the Underground Railroad. New York, New York: ScholasticHenry Brown doesn't know how old he is. Nobody keeps records of slaves' birthdays. All the time he dreams about freedom, but that dream seems farther away than ever when he is torn from his family and put to work in a warehouse. Henry grows up and marries, but he is again devastated when his family is sold at the slave market. Then one day, as he lifts a crate at the warehouse, he knows exactly what he must do: He will mail himself to the North. After an arduous journey in the crate, Henry finally has a birthday -- his first day of freedom.

Moore, K. (1994). If You Lived at the Time of the Civil War. New York, New York: Scholastic

Walker, Sally M. (2012). Freedom Song: The Story of Henry "Box" Brown. New York, New York: Harper CollinsHenry “Box” Brown’s ingenious escape from slavery is celebrated for its daring and originality. Throughout his life, Henry was fortified by music, family, and a dream of freedom. When he seemed to lose everything, he forged these elements into the song that sustained him through the careful planning and execution of his perilous journey to the North.

-[Abraham Lincoln, U.S. President, looking at a photo album with his son, Tad Lincoln, Feb. 9, 1864] (LOC)-Crowd at Lincoln's second inauguration, March 4, 1865 (LOC)-Original Caption: Photograph of a Drummer Boy with the United States Colored Infantry. U.S. National Archives’ Local Identifier: War and Conflict 139 Series Photographic Prints in John Taylor Album*, compiled ca. 1861 - ca. 1865-Photo taken in September-October of 1862. President Abraham Lincoln surveys the battlefield of Antietam

Warm Up

Review and discuss with students the activity from the previous session. Remind students how they used pictures to help answer questions about the story.

Practice1. Distribute copies of a different historical picture and P–QARs you have created on an activity sheet . 2. Have students observe and complete the activity sheet in groups or in pairs. 3. Make sure that students understand how to complete the activity sheet. After reading each question, students will first need to determine the question type. Then, after examining the picture, they can record their answers to the question. In the third column, students will need to explain how they arrived at their answers. You might work through a few questions together as a class to make sure that students are comfortable with the directions. 4. Upon completion, gather students together to go over the activity sheet. Make sure students are actively involved in the discussion, particularly if they have disagreements about the categorization of or answers to certain questions. Encourage students to explain their rationalesand work together to come to a consensus. 5. Ask students to reflect on the usefulness of this questioning strategy, and if they can see themselves using pictures more often to help them better understand a story, a historical event and answer comprehension questions. 6. Have students use the Comic Creator (http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/comic/index.html) to make wordless stories. When they are finished, have them question and answer each other in pairs about the stories they created. Make sure that they use the P-QAR question types. 7. Have students create and draw their own stories based on the concept of the civil war period in history. Have them use the P-QAR strategy to ask each other questions about the story illustrations and then answer the questions on a P–QARs activity sheet.

Assessment

• Use the completed P–QARs activity sheets and the class discussion to assess each student's ability to: a. Determine the type of question–answer relationship b. Answer questions by looking at pictures c. Explain how they arrived at the answers to questions

Closure and Reflection

Closure: Review and discuss with students the activities from the previous session. Remind students how they used pictures to help answer questions about the story and how they created their own stories. Let them know that historians also use artifacts to draw conclusions about particular times in history like during the Civil War period. Tell that they will explore more about this in the next lesson.

Self-Reflection: Did the students meet the objectives?Did the students create stories with pictures that provided clear evidence of their knowledge of the Civil War?Did the students answer the (P–QAR) Type questions accurately?What can I do to improve this lesson next time?